Hannah Frohling (Photo by Martin A. Folb)

Women's Volleyball 11/12/2016 12:00:00 AM

Waves Crash Down on San Francisco 3-1

Nov. 12, 2016

HIGHLIGHTS | PHOTO GALLERY

MALIBU, Calif. — A big attack and solid defense led the Pepperdine women's volleyball team to a four-set win over West Coast Conference opponents San Francisco this Saturday afternoon in Firestone Fieldhouse. The Waves outlasted the Dons with 25-18, 25-20, 29-31 and 25-14 final set scores.

The Waves (12-16, 6-10 WCC) had and strong performance throughout four sets, amassing a .277 hitting percentage as a team with 55 kills and only 16 errors on 141 swings. The team also out-blocked and out-served the Dons with 10.0 team blocks and seven aces, while adding 62 digs. San Francisco (4-24, 0-15 WCC) tallied a .155 hitting percentage with 54 kills and 30 errors on 155 attempts, while adding 6.0 team blocks, 59 digs and three aces in the match.

Freshman Hannah Frohling (Edmond, Okla./Edmond North HS) led the Waves in kill for the fifth-consecutive match with 17 on a .286 hitting percentage. She also picked up three blocks and four digs. Sophomore Tarah Wylie (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral HS) was also good for double-figure kills with 12 on a .524 attack output after tabbing one error in 21 attempts. She added two aces, three blocks and four digs in the effort.

Freshman Jasmine Gross (Portland, Ore./Jesuit HS) led the squad with six blocks and added nine kills with one error on 16 swings for a .500 hitting percentage. She now has 138 total blocks this season, which ranks third in the rally scoring era and fifth in the Pepperdine record books all-time for blocks in a single season. The rally scoring record is currently head at 143 (Sophia Milo, 2005) and the all-time record is 158 (Lesli Asplund, 1991; Barbara Stross, 1992).

Sophomore Heidi Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley Christian HS) had a team-best 25 assists, while adding an ace, nine digs and three blocks. Senior Gaby Palmeri (Davis, Calif./St. Francis HS) amassed eight kills on a .200 success rate and sophomore Jenna Tunnell (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert Vista HS) posted her fifth double-double with 17 assists and 10 digs, while adding seven kills on a .222 hitting output, one ace and two blocks.

Freshman Hana Lishman (Kailua, Hawai'i/Punahou School) led the team with 13 digs and freshman Jaiden Farr (Peterson, Utah/Morgan HS) added nine digs and two aces for the Waves. Junior Ashley Morgan (Anaheim Hills, Calif./Canyon HS) posted eight digs and one ace.

The Dons started the match with energy, amassing a 10-7 lead over the Waves in the beginning plays. Then a strong performance, fueled by an ace by Farr and kills from Wylie and Frohling gave the Waves a one-point 14-13 advantage. The team's then exchanged leads back-and-forth, tabbing eight tied scores and seven lead changes throughout the set, en route to a 16-16 tie. Dyer started her service with an ace and led the Waves to a 25-18 first set lead with forced Dons' attack errors and a Frohling, Gross block collaboration.

In the second set, Pepperdine worked ahead towards a solid lead, posting a 14-9 gap to put San Francisco in hot water. The Waves continued to attack, seeing three kills from Wylie and multiple block assists from Gross, Frohling and Tunnell to result in the 25-20 set win and the 2-0 match advantage.

The Waves and Dons battled it out in the third set, with fans seeing 23 tie scores and eight lead changes throughout. After a 7-7 tie to start the set, the Waves posted kills from Gross and Palmeri and Farr tabbed her second ace of the day to put a 14-10 lead over the opposition. San Francisco then attacked the way to a 17-17 tie, that continued back-and-forth to a 20-20 and 23-23 tie. The equal play did not stop there, however, and after 25-25 and 29-29 ties, the Dons put up a block assist and kill to win the set 31-29.

With a 2-1 lead heading into the fourth, the Waves were intent on closing out the match. The team did just that as Pepperdine rolled out to a 9-2 lead with big serves from Dyer, back-to-back kills from Frohling and a big Gross, Tunnell block. Pepperdine had the edge after that and despite a few comeback attempts by USF, the Waves won the set 25-14 on a senior Reegan Dennis (Newport Beach, Calif./Orange Lutheran HS) kill and the match 3-1.

Next, the Waves will make the short trip to Loyola Marymount on November 19 at noon in the first of the team's final two regular season matches. Find live stats and stream here: http://gowav.es/2bT5hVh. Follow the Waves on Facebook and Twitter @WavesVolleyball for immediate updates, recaps and more.

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